#nomand is really fun

[froggybrainz]

Sorry yall, I know I should get back to doing more jackmas, but I just really got into making 3d models, and honestly, that's all I'm focusing on rn....

[galaxythreads]

like. look.

I have no idea what anything regarding zuko has to do with internalized racism because I've never really heard that before so I'm just going to ignore that a bit because huh???? But uh. Let's take this in two sections. Zuko mocking Aang's culture and the face burning bit.

Zuko and Aang:

Here's the quotes in question:

--

Aang: Wait! Stop! I do understand. You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people? Zuko: She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice. Aang: I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge. Katara: Fine, maybe it is! Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what he deserves!

--

Aang: The monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed rat viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself. Zuko: That's cute, but this isn't air temple preschool. It's the real world. Katara: Now that I know he's out there ... now that I know we can find him, I feel like I have no choice. Aang: Katara, you do have a choice: forgiveness. Zuko: That's the same as doing nothing! Aang: No, it's not. It's easy to do nothing, but it's hard to forgive.

--

Is Zuko being mean? Yes. Is he being any meaner than normal here? Not really. Zuko is, by nature, a very sarcastic person and Aang knows that. Zuko is mocking Aang's non-violence rule, but one of the most important things I want to point out is that Aang is not bothered by this and Zuko is NOT the first person to do so. Sokka and Katara have both poked at Aang's no-murder. Toph probably did too and I don't remember, because Toph is very Violence Is Always The Answer I Think With My Feet Not My Brain.

An enormous part of religious culture, which Aang's culture is, is guidelines for how to live your life. Don't kill, don't lie, avoid eating x, etc, and people make fun of that in real life all the freaking time. But there is a huge difference between "this stranger I don't know is making fun of my religion to make fun of it" and "this is my friend who frustrated with my religion at this moment, but it doesn't bother me because we have an understanding and I can talk to them about it"

Zuko is not a Monk. Was it appropriate for him to make fun of Aang's religion here? No. But he wasn't making fun of it just because he could, he even explains why he said that it was like a preschool: he's frustrated. Aang understood that. Was it the best way to get that across? No. But he is sixteen. Does that excuse it? No.

BUT HERE IS THE THING:

Zuko: You were right about what Katara needed. Violence wasn't the answer. Aang: It never is.

At the end of the episode, ZUKO REALIZES THAT HE WAS WRONG FOR MOCKING AANG AND SAYS SO. Is it an explicit apology, no, but it IS an apology and that's important. It establishes that a) Zuko is aware enough of Aang's religion enough for his mean comments earlier to have come from a place of frustration, not ignorance and cruelty, and b) Zuko is regretful that he said that and then apologizes that he wasn't respectful. "You were right about what Katara needed" because Zuko WASN'T right about what Katara needed. This is an apology for what he said earlier. And Aang gets that.

--

"Sozin murdered children. And he just yelled at his dad for burnie him as a child. Like jfc could he be any more like ozai?"

"Sozin murdered children" So not Zuko personally, or even Ozai personally? Or even anyone that Zuko remembers in living memory? Azulan is his grandfather, not Sozin. I do not understand how Zuko in ANYWAY bares responsibility for what his ancestors did. He didn't make their choices. He wasn't standing next to them enabling everything or turning a blind eye. He didn't help. He didn't do this. He did not do this. Zuko wasn't even BORN when Sozin decided to kill everyone. Zuko wasn't even born when Sozin slaughtered the Air Nomands. Zuko didn't help. He had no idea what was going on because HE WAS NOT BORN. Zuko bares no responsibility for something that he had NOTHING to do with.

Did he benefit from the fortune they got from destroying cultures? Yes. Does Zuko spend time after the war is over trying to rebuild and repair what his family did? YES. Zuko was not in a position at this moment in time when he confronted Ozai to do anything about this because he was SIXTEEN YEARS OLD and about to be disowned. All Zuko is responsible for now is making sure his family does not cause more harm, not for the harm it already did when he was a child. Because he actually did not have mind control abilities at age 5 and choose to force all the adults around him to make their choices. I just -- asdlfkaegiowhg.

Okay. Look. I know this isn't a perfect analogy, but - If your great grandfather beat his daughter (your grandmother) often in her entire childhood, and then people tried to blame you for beating your grandmother, do you understand how absurd that is? You weren't even born when harm was being done to your grandmother. You didn't even meet your great grandfather. Is it different because the Fire Nation are colonizers? Yes. But like. That was not Zuko's decision. He did not choose to beat the grandma! It's complex and ugly but Sozin's choices aren't Zuko's choices and I know that this is a mess but I just. Zuko isn't Anakin Skywalker??????

And let me emphasize again to you, he is sixteen years old. Maybe seventeen by this point, but! Baby. What did you want Zuko to do? Stand in front of Ozai and recount every horrible thing the Fire Nation has done? Because let me tell you something - Ozai doesn't care. And you want to know how I know that? Ozai didn't stop the war. He doesn't want to stop the war. He feels no remorse for what happened. Zuko starts his list and then Ozai will launch into the same excuses the Fire Nation has been spinning for decades and they will get no where.

And when Zuko went to confront Ozai, he wasn't doing that as the prince of the Fire Nation, he was doing that as Zuko confronting his father. And here's the thing Zuko is angry about - Zuko tried to stand up for the lives of soldiers who were going to be slaughtered as a distraction tactic and then Ozai punished him and banished him for trying to save innocent lives. For speaking out of turn. Zuko is nothing like Ozai because Ozai doesn't care about innocents. He never would have stood up for them in a meeting and you want to know how I know that?

Because Zuko was the only person who did.

I just. I don't even know man. I don't blame Zuko for going after Ozai about the scar because this is kind of Zuko scraping for the last bit of humanity in Ozai. If Ozai can admit some sort of remorse for burning Zuko so badly he (almost definitely) blinded him in one eye, then maybe Ozai isn't completely cold. But he didn't regret it. So Zuko gives up on him, and then Ozai tries to kill him.

Sometimes, when you talk to abusive parents, you've gotta just minimize harm, not list out every wrong they've ever done because it will only get you more hurt. Amazingly, despite what myth and legend tells us, standing up to abusive parents doesn't actually make them non-abusive, it usually just makes things worse.

Fuxk internalized racism. Zuko mocked aang's culture in the southern raiders and the fandom doesn't hold him accountable. Sozin murdered children. And he just yelled at his dad for burnie him as a child. Like jfc could he be any more like ozai?

[asksilvaantrum]

Leilani@Ellowyn: Leilani approaches Ellowyn, for the the Pokemon gave off a off a comforting, motherly aura. "Alola!! You seem like you're having fun!" The young Popplio grins at Ellowyn. "You don't really look like a Water type, but I heard you talking to that other Pokemon about the secrets of the ocean. You know, my tribe used to be no... 'nomandic,' is it? It means they travelled everywhere and saw lots of things in the ocean, too! So, what kinds of things do you know about the ocean?"

Taken by surprise, the Mew turned to look at the young child, her heart melting at the sight and a light smile appearing upon her face as she watched the Popplio. She was correct, though her fur was much like water could be, she was in no sense a water type... Atleast, not originally.

“ Your folks must’ve seen MANY things, young one. “ she gently spoke, her tail wrapping somewhat protectively around the Popplio.  “ The secrets of the ocean are plenty, still... But there are such I cannot talk of. “ she confessed with a soft sigh. How long had it been since she had raced through the waters, her powers manifesting and leaving the gift of life behind her the further and deeper she went.

Ages gone past since then.

“ But I know most of all the ocean can be as gentle as she can be cruel. I have seen wonders that would leave you wanting for more... I’ve seen civilizations rise and fall, under the sea. Perhaps one day, when you’re older and your body can handle the depths of the sea more, I can show you too. “